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P THE STUDY ^ 



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LIVING LAIGUAfiES. J 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




THE 



STUDY 



OF 



LIYING LANGUAGES 



COLONEL ARTHUR COTTON, 

MADRAS ENGINEERS. 



MADRAS: 

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED AT THE SCOTTISH PRESS, 

BY I, C, GRAVES. 

18 5 7. 



PREFACE. 

The learning of the living languages of foreign, semi-civilized, 
and savage people has now become a matter of such immeasur- 
able importance that any man may be excused who makes the 
poorest attempt to diminish the difficulties of such a work. 

Englishmen especially, are at this moment employed by thou- 
sands, as Merchants, Missionaries, Magistrates, &c., in learning 
hundreds of different languages spoken by people in all stages of 
civilization, from the lowest state of society upwards, and in their 
speedy acquisition of a correct knowledge and free colloquial use of 
several tongues of those tribes, hundreds of millions of the human 
race are most deeply interested, as that upon wliich mainly de- 
pends both their temporal and eternal interests. Yet I am not 
aware that there is in existence a single work in which this sub- 
ject is closely and systematically investigated. It must be ob- 
served that the point before us is, what is the best mode of acquir- 
ing a knowledge of the language of savage and semi-civilized na- 
tions ? and that this is in some important respects quite distinct 
from both the acquisition of dead languages and also of the living 
languages of nations who have been fully civilized and, conse- 
quently, have a complete system of literature, a great variety of 
books of instruction written by extensively informed Natives, and 
also thoroughly educated teachers. 

There are difficulties in learning the languages of semi-civiHz- 
ed and barbarous people which do not exist in the case of the 
languages of civilized nations, and with respect to the dead lan- 
guages the principal points to be attended to and the objects 
aimed at are so entirely different from those in living languages, 
that what is applicable to the one is almost entirely inapplicable 
to the other. 

Nothing can be more deplorable than this state of things. The 
mischiefs arising out of it are incalculable. All, without excep- 



11 PREFACE. 

tion who require to know such a language, and who make at- 
tempts to acquire it, lose, probably from three fourths, to nine- 
teen twentieths of the time so employed ; a large portion lose the 
whole, breaking down before they have acquired any useful 
knowledge at all ; probably scarcely one in ten acquires a toler- 
ably correct and free use of it, and scarcely one at all such a 
knowledge as to make them really effective translators, an office 
of the highest possible importance, because the transference of 
English literature, for the great mass of the inhabitants of the 
earth, must precede the formation of a national literature amorfg 
each tribe. 

At present it may safely be said that no system whatever is 
followed in studving such living languages for colloquial purposes. 
Let any one individual of the thousands who are at this moment 
so employed, be asked, whose system of study do you prefer, or 
have you any of your own, and upon what grounds do you decide 
upon this, or that point, and his answer would generally be such 
as to show that he had no clear, definite, well-digested ideas on 
the subject. Without the least previous investigation of the 
subject, without spending one single day in reading a treatise on 
it, or considering it in his own mind, he usually blindly takes in 
hand a matter upon which he will perhaps employ one or several 
years ; taking at a venture as it were, any books or teachers 
that he may happen to fall in witli, or any ideas he may hap- 
pen to have got into his own head, he knows not how or 
whence ; without any solid grounds for concluding whether the 
mode he is pursuing will leail to an economical or an enormously 
wasteful expenditure of time, and, what is of more, importance, 
whether ho is laying tlie foundntioii of a real, correct, and 
efl'ective knowledge of the language, or establishing himself 
in a totally false use of it, which, wIumi brcoiuc habitual, will lu'ver 
be corrected. 

Matters are in respect of this study of languages just as they 
Avere in respect of road maki ug before the tiuu^ of Mr. McAdam. 
Every man thought he was born a road maker, ami those holding 
the charge of roads did almost anything to tluiu and called it re- 
pairs. It was a most eomniou tlu'ng for instance to throw a thick 
layer of loose rounded gravel on the road, which at first caused al- 



PREFACE. Ill 

most the greatest possible resistance to the carriages and by de- 
grees was converted into mud, but never afforded any tiling ap- 
proaching to a clean, hard surface. The road menders were quite 
satisfied because they were doing something, but if asked, why 
they did what produced an effect exactly the opposite to that 
which was desired, they of course could not have given a reason. 
Eoad-making has since been thoroughly investigated and though 
men have not yet perhaps found out the best way of doing it, they 
have now a real reason for what they do, and consequently a pro- 
digious improvement in roads has been produced. 

It is high time that such a change should take place in refer- 
ence to this subject now before us, and any attempt at an examin- 
ation of it, with a view to a really sound system of study should 
be accepted. 

The thoughts contained in the following paper are the results 
of such a consideration of the subject as could be given to it in 
the midst of duties of another kind during a period of more 
than thirty years. 

Circumstances have not allowed of the writer following up the 
study of any language, to any extent, having repeatedly moved, 
from where one language was spoken to where another was used, 
and his time being too much occupied with pressing business ; 
nor has he had an opportunity of commencing ihe study of a lan- 
guage with such materials as he here recommends ready prepared 
to his hands. 

In the course of this long period however he has had an opportu- 
nity of trying his plans partially in several languages both on him- 
self and others, and thus of correcting in some measure his first 
ideas and forming something like a digested system in his own 
mind ; and he must state that ^s to the leading points in the sys- 
tem here proposed, he has quite satisfied himseK. 

He has taken every opportunity of obtaining aid from others, 
both by reading works of teachers of languages in Europe, and 
also by trying to discuss the question with those who were 
studying and had studied such kind of living languages. Prom 
the former he has received some help, though often merely by 
being taught what to avoid ; but from the latter he received no 
assistance, simply because in general they had no distinct ideas 



IV PREFACE. 

at all on the matter, nor any solid reason for any thing they had 
done in their studies. lie has however got various hints from 
observing what progress different men had made in such studies 
when using different means. On one occasion lie met with a 
young man who had given his whole time to Arabic for three years, 
and could not then produce a sentence in conversation, and soon 
after he was intimate with another who in about 8 months and 
while loaded with other duties, had obtained, if not an accurate yet 
such an effective, colloquial use of the same tongue, that he re- 
gularly transacted extensive business in it with strangers of all 
sorts without the least difficulty. Again, in India one meets 
every day with men who have studied most diligently for one, 
two or three years, and yet all their life after s])eak a language, 
that both from pronunciation and expression is almost, or quite, 
unintelligible to any native, excepting those who from being about 
them constantly in an official capacity have learnt their lan- 
guage, (for what they used and called the native language was 
really a language of their own invention) and so have come to 
understand them. 

The writer cannot conclude these remarks without expressing 
his full assurance that the acc^uisition of a correct knowledge and 
perfectly ready colloquial use of such languages will be found to 
^be a matter requiring very bttle time compared with what it does 
at present, in most cases, when a better mode of learning is 
adopted. On one occasion he had an opportunity of observing 
the progress made by children in acquiring a new language in a 
certain time. Out of a number that embarked in a ship in India 
many did not know a word of English, having previously used 
nothing but some Indian language, and they were of various 
ages. During the four months of the voyage to England every one 
of them had so perfectly acquired the use of English that they 
never were at a loss, and latterly seemed to have as good a know- 
ledge of it as those who had always used it. Now if children of a 
few years old, without the slightest assistance from teachers or 
study, could thus pick up a colloquial use of a new language in four 
months and talk it exactly like one who had never talked any 
thing else, it seems certain that adults with a Imndrcd times 
their power of mind and with suitable books and teachers and 



PREFACE. 



regular study could not fail to attain to a real knowledge and 
ready colloquial use of a new language, and that without being 
years about it, unless they were altogether wrong in the method 
of study they adopted. In fact he cannot help declaring it as 
his opinion that when this subject is fairly grappled with by men, 
the great supposed obstacles to intercourse of strange languages 
will be found, comparatively speaking, a mere bugbear ; and that 
the acquisition of a new language for all the ordinary purposes of 
life will be found to be within the reach of almost all with a com- 
paratively very small expenditure of time and labour. 



THE STUDY 

OF 

LIVING LANGUAGES. 



Before proceeding to propose a system of study of living lan- 
guages, it may be well to make some remarks on the mistakes that 
are commonly made at present, and the chief difficulties that are 
usually met with, as well as on the time generally expended on 
such study. 

A great many of the common mistakes can easily be traced 
to the circumstance that almost universally the students have 
previously been accustomed to study dead languages, and from 
their not observing that almost all their ideas have been formed 
from that study, while the principal points to be attended to in 
the study of living languages are exactly those that are of little 
or no consequence in that of dead ones, and vice versa. In learn- 
ing Latin or Greek, for instance, the sole objects usually are to 
be able to read so as to understand the writings of highly edu- 
cated men and (but as very secondary) to write elegant formal 
essays. The following are therefore the leading points aimed at ; 
1st. A knowledge of the character. 

2nd. A knowledge of the whole vocabulary of the languao-e, in- 
cluding a multitude of words seldom or never used collo- 
quially in the ordinary business of life. 
3rd. A readiness in perceiving the meaning of long involved 
formal sentences, such as are found in grave prose and in 
poetical writings. 
4th. A thorough knowledge of the whole grammar, so as to be 
able to give a formal rule for any thing when questioned. 
5th. And such a familiar knowledge of the idiom of the lan- 
guage as will enable one to write formal papers in a good 
style. 
The points that are of little or no consequence are, 
1st. Correct pronunciation. 



Z THE STUDY OF 

i^nd. An extensive knowledge of the common expressions used 
in the ordinary business of Hfe. 

3rd. A perfect readiness at recognizing the word by the sound 
wlien rapidly spoken. 

4th. The same in forming sentences to express our own 
thoughts. 

Kow, if we consider these things we shall perceive that tlie 
study of the dead languages and that of the living languages of 
semi-civilized and barbarous nations are almost diametrically op- 
posed in respect of the objects to be attained. The points that are 
essential in the one are either non-essential, or of no importance 
whatever, in the other and vice versa. A man may talk a language 
most fluently, correctly and usefully, for all the ordinary business 
of life, without knowing the character, without being able to 
quote a single rule of grammar, without the knowledge of half or 
three-fourths of the vocabulary of a language, and without 
any facility in comprehending the involved sentences of formal 
writings of learned men ; while, without an accurate pronunci- 
ation, an ample acquaintance with the common colloquial ex- 
pressions of uneducated people, and a most free and ready 
use of them, so that strangers can readily catch his words aiul 
comprehend his meaning, and without an ear thoroughly exer- 
cised in the sounds of the language, so as at once to recognise 
what is spoken by a native, he has entirely missed his object, 
though he may know every word in the language and every rule 
of grammar, and be able to w'rite an elegant essay without a mis- 
take. Books of history kc, do not furnish us with the expres- 
sions of ordinary conversation. Ereri/ countnj has its oivn pe- 
culiar forms and they w-vsf he learnt individuaUt/ ; no ndes can 
be given by w hich a student, who knows the words and grammar, 
can invent them himself. In semi-civilized countries, where 
not one in a hundred has read books, there is a large projjortion 
of the words, which are never used in conversation on ordinary 
matters, and which therefore are so far froni being of any use to 
the great mass of those who have to acquire the language that 
they are always in his way, if he has learnt them, leading him to 
ex})ress liimsi'lf in words not in common use, and consequently 
unknown to most of those with whom he has to communicate. 
80 far therul'ure from it beinu' sullicieut to follow the ideas which 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 3 

a man has gathered while studying dead languages^ they are in fact 
the very opposite to those which are correct as respects the study 
of such living languages as are here supposed. 

If we examine the mode of study adopted generally, however it 
may vary in minor points^ the system,, so far as that can be called 
a system, which is indeed no such thing, is that suited to the 
dead languages. A. man takes up a book of stories, a grammar^ 
and a dictionary, and learning, almost exclusively by the eye, he 
proceeds exactly as if the use of his ear were of no consequence, 
as if he must at once grapple with the wdiole vocabulary of the 
language, and as if when he had got the materials of words and 
rules of grammar, he could himself guess the forms of expression 
wliich he must compound from them; like the idiot wlio w^as 
found to have stored up in his box all tlie wlieeis, axles, &c., he 
could lay his hand upon, thinking that when he had got enough 
he could easily make a clock of them. The results of this pro- 
ceeding are notorious. A youth in India has passed a splendid 
examination, knows every word of the language and has a rule of 
grammar for everything, loses his way out riding and can^t get 
home before he is in danger of a stroke of the sun, because he 
can't make any Native he meets understand him, nor can he 
understand a sentence spoken by them, and this after many months, 
often a year or two, of intense study from morniug to night. 
And what is still worse, probably he is confirmed in a false 
pronunciation and a false mode of expression from having 
almost entirely neglected these two great essentials, or at least 
not having given tliem any thing like due attention. The consi- 
deration of this source of many of the most serious mistakes that 
are made in this study will be very useful. 

Another great source of mistakes, is that such languages are 
generally learnt by men at that age when they have most confi- 
dence in their own powers and when they are consequently al- 
ways disposed to take the bull by the horns. With this feeling 
the student generally rushes into the midst of his enemies head- 
long, attempting to grapple at once with the character, the pro- 
nunciation, the whole grammar, the whole vocabulary of 20,000, 
or, as in Arabic, 200,000 w^ords, the language of books and the 
language of conversation &c. No wonder that such a one finds 
himself continually discouraged, that many give up in despair. 



♦ THK STUDY OK 

that all waste an cno^lVlnu^; amount oi'iinie and mental etibrt, and 
that scarcely one in a hundred ever talks like a native. Whatever 
a man's powers may be it is certainly sheer waste to set about 
matters in this way, and lie cannot possibly receive such clear im- 
pressions on his mind as the same person would, if he concen- 
trated his attention upon one thing at a time. 

It may also be well here to advert to some peculiar difficulties 
which we necossai-ily encounter in the circumstances in which 
Europeans are ordinarily placed in semi-civibzed countries, and 
especially in a country Hke India, in which caste prevails. If an 
Englishman wishes to learn French or German, he can go and 
live with a native family, or throw himself continually into the 
society of natives, in inns and places of public resort, where his 
ear will be exercised from morning to night in the true pronuncia- 
tion and the real ordinary expressions of tlie hmgnage, and where 
consequently, Avithout the least effort even, though indeed slowly, 
he can hardly help acquiring a correct use of the language both 
as respects pronunciation and expression. But there are few coun- 
tries out of Europe where a European can thus freely associate 
with the natives, and in India he is effectually excluded from their 
houses. Separate and special means must therefore be used, to 
exercise the tongue and ear of the student, and to store his memory 
with a stock of bona fide expressions. 

Another difficulty is the great inferiority of native teachers 
compared with European Masters. Indeed in a gi-eat proportion 
of cases a man has to leain a language with the assistance of one 
who is not a teacher at all by profession, and who therefore cannot 
give him a hundredth part of the help derived from a practised 
and well instructed teacher. Eurther, such languages are so ex- 
tremely different from the European torgnes, in every respect 
that a person is much more hkely to be discouraged from the diffi- 
culties he experiences than in learning a foreign European language, 
and on this account it is especially necessary to adopt a system 
that shall as far as possible tend to keep up th€ stndent^s courage. 

These are some of the leading points that should be kept in 
view in considering a system of study for buch languages. 

I would now propose some fundamental principles to be taken 
as clues to the better understanding of the subject. 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 



It is evident that there are two fundamental points to be at- 
tended to. The first, which is bv far of the greatest importance of 
the two, is ; To be careful that we lay a sound foundation. This 
is a universal principle and yet one at least as often forgotten in 
studying languages as in other matters. If a false foundation is 
laid, the erection can never be made sound. If a man once ac- 
quires a false pronunciation or a false mode of expression, he 
will never get over it. Whatever he learns should be perfectly cor- 
rect, and not only so, he should have such a thorough knowledge 
of it that he shall be fully assured in his own mind that his 
knowledge is correct, so that he may not afterwards be in doubt 
and liable to give up what is right and substitute some guess of 
his own instead. Por want of right modes of study, what num- 
bers use all their lives some language and pronunciation of their 
own invention and never find out how it is they can hardly have 
any intercourse with natives by means of it. The true value and 
true pronunciation of every word encountered should be fully as- 
certained, and its use in a great variety of forms of expression 
should be made thorouglily familiar, before proceeding to other 
words, and no imperfect acquaintance wdth a word or expression 
should be allowed. The second great principle is of course ; To 
save time ; but this must always be subordinate to the former. 
In the main however the two principles are not only compatible 
but inseparable : nothing causes so much waste of time as im- 
perfectly learning things, receiving indistinct and shallow im- 
pressions of them, because such things are always forgotten and 
have to be learnt over again. This is the grand reason why such 
enormous time is w^asted in this study. A man attempts so much 
at once that every thing is partially learnt and forgotten proba- 
bly at least a hundred times over. He begins with a book contain- 
ing hundreds, more likely thousands of words and long sentences 
involving innumerable rules of grammar, and before he gets to the 
end of it has learnt in a sort of way and forgotten every word in 
it and every expression over and over again, and has probably in 
the end thoroughly apprehended and acquired a familiar knowledge 
of not one tw^entieth part of the words he has met with. He 
perhaps makes lists of the words that he meets with and learns 
many hundreds by heart at once, but he has no useful knowledge 



6 THE STUDY 01 

of one in twenty of them. No word is cll'ectually known till 
it is so thoroughly familiar, that it is ready in his mouth at any 
moment, without the slightest efibrt of memory, and till it can be 
used in a considerable variety of expressions ; in fact, till it is just 
to the student like one of the words of his native tongue, and so 
wrought into his mind that it cannot be forgotten again. It may 
however often appear that time would be gained by adopting 
some plan which would endanger the soundness of the founda- 
tion, and in this case such a plan must be rejected. 

The third great principle is ; To have such a system as shall 
encourage people, both to commence upon and go tlirough with 
the study of native languages. It is of exceeding importance to 
encourage all persons, whatever their situations or occupations 
are, when remaining for any time hoAvever short or uncertain 
in such countries, to make themselves acquahited, as far as possi- 
ble, with the language of the people. Numbers at present never 
attempt it, solely because the usual mode of study cuts them off 
from all hope of ever attaining to the smallest useful knowledge 
of it, without such an expenditure of time and labour as they are 
afraid to encounteT or their circumstances absolutely prevent. A 
system which shall afford some useful results to every one who 
enters upon it, and those in some degree proportioned to the 
time and labour expended, is an innnense desideratum. It would 
lead numbers to make a beginning wlio now never attempt it ; and 
many such, if they once began, would not rest till they had ob- 
tained some considerable knowledge of it. 

An encouraging system is ecjually required for those who do at 
present set themselves to the study with the purpose of going 
through with it. Nothing can be more discouraging than the 
means usually pursued at present, whereas if a man were pursuing 
a system in which he felt at every step, that he was making real, 
useful progress, he would go on with teidbld spirit, always feeling 
too, that stop Avherehe would, his labour had not been thrown away. 

In endeavouring to accomplish the tlrst object the following 
lules may be laid down. 

1st. The student is really to learn the language aiul not to at- 
tempt to tcac/i khnsclf. For instance, notliingis more common 
than for a man, as soon as he has learnt a few words, with the 



LIVING LANGUAGES. / 

help of his grammar to begin to try and form sentences. In this 
way he may certainly make a new language of his own, but it 
won't be the language he proposes to learn. Thus numbers at- 
tempt to communicate with Natives by Enghsh sentences made 
up of foreign words which consequently are not merely scarcely 
intelligible but often convey no meaning at all, thougli perfectly 
correct as regards both words and grammar. The student must 
not at first attempt to take the smallest step alone. He must not 
pronounce a word nor put two words together by himself. He 
must be content to learn every thing, and that thoroughly, from a 
native, sound by sound, word by word, expression by expression, 
and not attempt to go beyond this, till he has become so esta- 
bhshed in correct pronunciation, in his knowledge of the cor- 
rect value of words and in the actual forms used by the Natives 
that there is no danger of his substituting something of his own 
for the real language. 

It is by no means sufficient to learn a sound or expression 
once or ten times : it can only be correctly acquired by exercise, 
by thousands of repetitions, referring every time immediately to 
a correct standard. If a man reads for an hour with a teacher 
and then goes on attempting to pronounce the w^ords by himself 
for the rest of the day, he will inevitably acquire a false pronunci- 
ation, unless he is so thoroughly established in a correct pro- 
nunciation that there is no danger of his losing it, and then in- 
deed abundant exercise of his tongue, when alone, will be of the 
utmost use, but this at first is ruinous. 

Suppose a child were shown the form of a letter and then as 
soon as he had a rough idea of it should go on writing repetitions 
of it Avithout a standard before him, any body can tell what 
would be the consequence ; at the end of a month he Avould be 
thoroughly confirmed in writing such a letter as had never been 
seen before ; and if he had occasionally the standard put before 
him, the consequence would be that nine tenths of his time would 
be passed in learning to recede further from tlie original, and 
the other tenth in trying to get rid of the habit of writing wTong 
and to bring himself back to what was correct. 

The same is the case with the student of languages, and in gen- 
eral they are thus constantly employed in partially learning and 



O TUE STUDY OF 

then unlearning, and the consequence is that even where an ap- 
proach is made to a correct use of the language nine tenths of 
the time employed is needlessly lost. 

A third point is to learn one thing at a time. 

If a number of things are pressing upon the attention at once, 
it is impossible that a distinct and permanent impression can be 
received by any mind whatever its powers. Let us consider a 
person learning a language in the way so commonly followed. 
He is grappling with a sentence of many words. Here he has at 
once to consider, the character, the meaning of many new w ords, 
the pronunciation of them all, tlie inflexions of the nouns and 
verbs, the syntax, the mode of expression, &:c. The consequence 
is, his attention is so overwhelmed and distracted that his mind 
is incapable of receiving a clear impression on any one point. No 
wonder that so little progress is made, that the knowledge ac- 
quired is so imperfect and incorrect, and that the student is so 
constantly discouraged. Often his progress is one continued 
effort to bear up against the most depressing feehng that he caji 
never master the difficulties, as a man wears himself out some- 
times in trying to carry a load beyond his strength, when if he 
would divide it and carry a portion of it at a time, he would not 
only accomplish his task atid that comfortably, but would gain 
strength by the exercise. How many, especially in hot climates 
are so injured in their health, not by learning a language ; but 
by the way in which they learn it, that when they have some use 
of it they are obliged to lay by for a time. Whereas if they 
would learn one thing at a time, they would attain to such a clear 
and sound knowledj^'e and t^o on so comfortablv that thev would be 
in no danger of ending without an effective use of the language. 
A fourth point is to take care to give the whole strength to the 
really essential parts of the subject. What arc the things that 
constitute a sound knowledc^e in this case? Certainlv not a 
loose imperfect idea of the value of almost all the words of the 
language, with a rough guess at their pronunciation aiul the 
mode of putting them together, the power of reading the character, 
of understanding a book with the lielp of time for consideration, 
of recognizing the words by ."^i^/U kc. This is the foundation 
that is usually laid ; such a student now commences to apply hi« 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 



knowledge of the language to tlie principal, perliaps the only 
purpose for which lie has studied it; viz., conversation. He 
finds of course that his being able to recognize the words when 
he sees them is of no use to him ; he has no facility in recogniz- 
ing them by the ear, which was the only thing he required ; he 
says the Native, he is attempting to talk with, speaks too fast. 
The fact is that he has not been learning the one grand thing he 
had to learn, the use of his ear. Next, he finds his knowing all 
the words in the language, in a certain way is of little or no use 
to him, because what he needs is the perfectly ready, familiar use 
of one in ten of them, but he cannot put a dozen together in 
that ready way which is necessary for conversing. 

Next, when he has with much difficulty put a sentence together 
he is paralyzed by seeing a civil, enquiring stare on the counte- 
nance of his companion, in consequence of the imperfection of 
his pronunciation, and the English mode of expression he uses. 
His failure usually produces utter discouragement, unless he has 
such a good opinion of himself that he attributes it entirely to 
the stupidity of the Native. In reality he has been giving the 
whole of his attention to matters that are of little or no use to him, 
while he has almost entirely neglected those that are essential. 

This brings us to the fifth principle, that the language must he 
learnt hy the ear and not hy the eye. This is one of the great 
fundamental mistakes made almost universally in studying livins^ 
languages : the student never for a moment studies without see- 
ing the words, though he knows that his whole object is to recog- 
nize them by his ear, without any assistance from the eye. A 
man might just as well attempt to train himself for a walking 
journey by sitting down for a year and turning a winch with his 
arms, or try to strengthen his limbs by moving for 6 months on 
crutches. Every body knows the consequence of this system, but 
every body pursues it. Erom the first the ear must be the main 
medium of receiving instruction and though the eye may be 
uf^ed a little at first with some advantage just to help the mem- 
ory, yet after a little time the ear should be employed alone in 
conversation. 

A man may consider he has laid a sound foundation when he 
has made the following acquisitions. 



10 Tin: STUDY OF 

1st. The ])ti-fi'ctly accurate proiuinciat ion and tlioroiighly fami- 
liar knowledge of a certain nninuer of the most generallv used 
words, however small, so that they are to him exactly as words of 
his own language, that is, that he has not to search about in his 
memory for them when he wants them, but that they will come 
of tliemselves, and these pronounced so that a native cannot but 
recognize them. 

2nd. The ])ower of putting these together in a good number of 
real bona tide native expressions, however short, without any ef- 
fort, expressions whicli he can confidently use, because he knows 
they are real, as he actually learnt them from a native, and not 
ones that he has invented and which consequently may or may 
not convey the meaning he intended or any meaning. One will 
often hear a native who has learnt English at a School use a sen- 
tence wliicli is unexceptionable as to grammar ^'c, but which is 
objectionable as conveying no meaning whatever to an English- 
man. Thus a Tamil man may say in English, " If you see this 
that^s good," and the Englishman to whom it is addressed can- 
not even guess what he means to express, though the same expres- 
sion conveys a clear idea to the Tamulian. 

3rd. An ear so exercised in the sounds of the language that 
the words spoken by a native, if they have been learnt, are at 
once recognized by the student so that what is said within the 
limit of the student's vocabulary can be apprehended at once 
without seeing the words written, and without a moment's consi- 
deration. 

4tli. The knowledge of so much grammar as is necessarv to 
form sentences of a few words only. 

Tliis is the sort of knowledge of a language that a chikl of 
three or four years old has. He doesn't know^ a single rule of 
grammar, he can't })erhaps read or write a letter, his \\\\o\v. vocab- 
nlary probably consists of a thousand words, but within tlie hmits 
of the matters he has to converse about, he can say with perfect 
freedom and almost perfect correctness any tiling he wants without 
a moment's hesitation, and lie umlcrstands on tlie instant every 
thing that's said to him, and that even though some of the words 
used are unknown to him. lie has in fact a soimd foundation, 
wliat lie knows is real, and he has only to go on adcbug to his 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 11 

stock of words and expressions, and to correct some unimportant 
errors, whicli however are such as do not in the least prevent his 
being understood. An adult student, who has such a knoAvledge, 
is in a right position, because he can converse within certain 
limits, and therefore he is in the way of exercising himself in 
contact with a correct standard, and he has nothing of conse- 
quence to unlearn ; his progress is not stopped by established 
habits of false pronunciation, and false expression, nor by habitual 
dependance upon his eyes to assist his memory. His only care 
then in conversation should be, not to attempt too much, but to 
content himself with common subjects and simple expressions, and 
only giving himself more liberty, as by learning he increases his 
stock of words, expressions &c. The knowledge of the character 
has nothing to do with this foundation, it is not in any way an 
assistance in acquiring it, and it is a great hindrance. A child 
uses his language freely and correctly without knowing a letter. 
The character has no connection with the pronunciation of a 
language, which must be learnt by the ear alone, and the sounds 
so acquired are just as well represented by the student^s own let- 
ters as by any others. Neither is a knowledge of almost the 
whole language necessary to it, the words in common use about 
ordinary matters form only a very small proportion of the words 
of a language, and three fourths of the words which occur in the 
books ordinarily read are of no use whatever to the beginner ; they 
are on the contrary the greatest hindrance to him by preventing 
his thoroughly learning those that he ought to have a familiar use 
of. Let us recapitulate the things necessary to form a sound 
foundation. 

1 st. A small vocabulary thoroughly known and become as fa- 
miliar as the words of one^s mother tongue. 

2nd. An accurate pronunciation of 'these and the organs of 
speech thoroughly exercised in them, so that they can be spoken 
with perfect freedom. 

3rd. So much grammar as is necessary to put these words to-- 
gether in short simple forms of expression. 

4th. An ear so thoroughly exercised in the sounds of the com- 
monest words as spoken by a native that they can be instantly 
recognized when heard. 



12 THE STUDY OF 

5t]i. The knowledge of a considerable stock of the commonest 
expressions of the language, so that the words known can be made 
into bona fide sentences. 

AYhen such a foundation has been laid, the student has only to 
proceed to add more words, more grammar and more expressions 
by degrees, only taking care to learn nothing but what is im- 
mediately wanted and to learn thoroughly whatever is learnt at 
all. "When considerable progress has thus been made, he may 
proceed to learn the character if he requires it and to read 
books &c. 

Let us now consider more particularly the second main point, 
viz.. To save time. 

As in other matters, the right way of acquiring a correct know- 
ledge of a language will be found to be suitable for the attain- 
ment of this main object also. 

The things that are necessary to ensure a sound foundation 
are equally so to secure the saving of time ; but we will now con- 
sider the details especially with reference to the latter. The first 
thing then is, to do one thing at a time. Surely this is a princi- 
ple that will at once commend itself to every one. We have to 
learn the character, the words, pronunciation, the grammar, the 
expressions &c. Our plan therefore should be as far as possible 
to separate these, and have the attention concentrated upon one of 
them at a time. This certainly cannot be fully accomplished ; 
but it can be sufficiently, for practical purposes. 

The second is, to learn thoroughly whatever is learnt. How can 
there be any question about the waste of time produced by parti- 
ally learning things and so forgetting them over and over again ? 
We may safely say that, as ordinarily studied, the meaning of every 
word, its pronunciation, points of grammar, expressions &c., arc 
partially learnt and forgotten again hundreds of times over. 
Everything that is learnt should be so followed up that it may be 
indelibly fixed in the memory and be as nmch part of the student 
himself as any thing in his oAvn language. 

3rd. Learn. only what is really wanted. Surely this also is most 
obvious. To learn at first words wliieh will either never be of 
any u.se to liim, or not till he is far advanced in the language, 
is entire waste of time. The same with forms of expression &c. 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 13 

An Englishman never thinks it necessary to learn all the words of 
his own language, he never knows half of them, much as he reads ; 
and how many must there be in every language that he need 
never know. The student should first begin with such words as 
are of universal use in common life and then, when he has made 
some progress in the language, commence upon those which are 
necessary for his particular profession. Even in English there 
are numbers of words which, though common in books, are never 
used in ordinary conversation ; but this is much more the case in 
languages in which ninety nine hundredths of the people scarce- 
ly ever read a book at all. To the beginner such book words, 
as he cannot distinguish them from others, are nothing but a 
serious hindrance to him. 

Bishop Heber remarks that to make himself intelligible to the 
great mass of his hearers who were uneducated persons, he used 
to find it advisable to confine himself as far as possible to words 
of Saxon -derivation, that is, to words commonly used in conversa- 
tion. If such a precaution were necessary in England, how much 
more in semi-civilized countries. 

Can there be any question but that by a system of study based 
upon these principles, by far the largest part of the time usually 
spent upon acquiring a colloquial use of a foreign language may 
be saved. Look at the progress a child makes in a really useful 
knowledge of a language, whether his first, or one picked up after- 
wards, from being associated with those who speak it, with such 
extremely small powers of mind, without any effort, and without 
any materials. Can it be supposed that an adult with such enor- 
mous advantages, with properly prepared materials, and with 
diligent study could not make much more rapid progress, if he 
pursued a right system. 

The system that I would now propose, founded on these princi- 
ples, is as follows. 

1st. The language is to be learnt through the medium of the 
English character. 

The object of this is to get rid of any thing which is not abso- 
lutely necessary to be learnt at first. 

It may be said that it takes a very little time to learn the na- 
tive character ; and so it does to learn it in a certain wa^y that is, 



14 



TUF. STUDY OF 



SO that by ilxing the thoughts upon a k-ttrr and taking a little 
time for consideration, it may be rccoHected to represent a certain 
sound, but it will be a long time before the character is so fami- 
liar as not to occupy tlie attention most seriously, and that at the 
time when there is the greatest demand upon it. But not only is 
a known character preferable at first on this account, but it is also 
superior as a medium to the native character, as being less liable to 
lead to mistakes. In an Indian language for instance, in whieii 
there are two or three n'sand as many Ts, the beginner is alwavs 
liable to forgetwhich is which ; but tlie plan of noting the sound by 
English letters with one or two dots under those that represent 
peculiar native sounds, eltectually prevents any such mistakes, the 
dots remind the reader in the readiest manner that they represent 
such sounds as are those upon which the attention should be 
especially concentrated. Every letter in the native language 
must be represented by one certain letter of English, so that the 
proper spelling may be known. As to the learning of the native 
character ultimately, if the student should recpiire it, its the 
easiest thing in the world when tlie language is known in other 
respects, and the whole attention is available for the letters onlv. 
The time required for this is most trilling but even were it con- 
siderable it would still be necessary to learn at first through the 
medium of the English character, on account of the enormous loss 
of time arising from having the attention overburlhened at lirst. 
I therefore reject the native character as being 

1st. Quite unnecessary for learning the languagi\ 

2nd. As being a most serious hindrance, absorbing a great 
deal of the attention, when its utmost eilbrts are required for those 
thinccs which are essential. 

3rd. As not being required at all by a great i)roi)ortion of 
those who need to aecpiire a foreign language. 

Ith. As a thing that can be acquired with a hundredth i)art 
of the time which would be consumed at tirst, after the other parts 
of the study have been matured. 

5th. As being more liable to be mistaken by the beginner than 
the English character. 

If it be said, but how can it be avoided when there are no ele- 
mentary books of the language in the English charafter? 1 answer, 



LIVING LANGT3AGES. 15 

Eirst, that I am here proposing a new system, and of course would 
have books prepared suitable to it ; Second, tliat in many lan- 
guages, as in those of Bengal, many books have already been 
prepared in this way ; Third, that in many situations the 
student could, with the assistance of a native, easily provide 
himself with the first elementary books, without much loss 
of time, and certainly with much less expenditure of time, 
than by studying in the common ways with such books as are 
already provided; and Pourthl}^, that if there is no alterna- 
tive, Ave must of course begin by learning the native character, 
but still if we follow out the other parts of the system here pro- 
posed, it will be much less a hindrance to him than to those who 
adopt the usual means, because he will seldom have to read 
any words but those which he knows, and then the strange 
character is comparatively a small hindrance. Of course, in 
applying the EngKsh character, the value of each letter must first 
be defined, as is now fully recognized as an essential principle, and 
which is always acted upon in the Bengal books. The letter. A, 
for instance, has in English seven distinct sounds as in the words, 
hat, mast, all, many, America, Yacht, make. In all the East In- 
dian languages, the letter which represents the sound of our A, 
in Mast or long A, somewhat modified, represents the sound of 
our A in amuse, or short A, and therefore this letter, with and 
without a long mark over it, should represent these two sounds 
and be used whenever the corresponding characters are used 
or implied in the foreign word. With respect to the other 
sounds of it, some are unknown in certain languages, as for 
instance the sounds of that letter in the words hat and Yacht are 
unknown in any Asiatic language. ISTo Native Indian can pro- 
nounce the words hat and hot, but are under the necessity of substi- 
tuting some other vocal sound for them, till they have learnt the 
true pronunciation. The other sounds of it will of course be 
represented by those English vowels which more properly re- 
present them, oidy taking care, to use the same letter to repre- 
sent the long and short sound, distinguishing the former by a 
long mark over it. Thus the sound of E in Hen, and Eete, v.diich 
are properly the same sound pronounced long or short, are repre- 
sented in the Indian languages by modifications of the same letter 



16 THE STUDY OF 

and should therefore both be rei)rcsciited by E. With respect to the 
sounds which are cither unknown in EngHsh, or not represented 
by any one EngHsh letter, tliey sliould either be represented by 
a combination of Englisli letters, if possible, or if not by a letter or 
letters, distinguished by a mark ; as for instance one or more dots 
under them. There are, for instance, four letters that represent in 
the Tamil language the sound of our N, or some modification of it ; 
one, is precisely the souiul of it, the tongue being placed in the 
same position as by us. This will be represented of course by our 
N. The second is the same in sound, though represented by a dif- 
ferent character, but it occurs oidy wlien preceding and combin- 
ed with a certain other consonant, this may also be represented by 
a simple English N, as the sound is the same. The third has 
the souiul of Ny in English and therefore should be represented 
by those consonants, the sound is that of our N, in " New/' The 
fourth is a sound unknown in English : it is pronounced by the 
tongue being turned entirely back, so that the under part of its 
tip touches tlie roof of the moutli. An N, sounded with the 
tongue in this position is the sound required. This therefore 
should be represented by an N, with a dot uiuler it, the dot or 
dots being the invariable mark of a sound quite strange to an 
Englishman, so as to be the readiest warning to the student 
that the tongue must be placed in a position which is new to him. 
This is much preferable to the native character itself, because 
there can be no mistake about it without any effort of memory, 
whereas the foreign character will always require the student to 
consider which of the several sounds of N it represents. 

Tt may be observed here, that, in general, probably in all cases, 
the languages of semi-civilized people that are written, have an 
invariable sound for each character, so that there is no such 
diliicuUy in representing them by the English characters as there 
would be in representing English by some foreign character, on 
account of the vocal sounds being represented in different words 
by dillerent vowels ; as. Hat, yacht, many, all &c., and grief, 
leaf, seed, previous. Marine, receive, and homoeopathy. In writing 
English therefore in a foreign character, there would be no al- 
t(Tnative but to use a certain letter for each sound, however that 
sound is represented in English writing, and correct English 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 17 

spelling must be learnt afterwards. But tliese difficulties do 
not exist in applying the English character to represent the 
sounds of most of the written languages of semi-civilized nations. 
2nd. Begin with a restricted vocabulary. In the first place, reject 
of course all words which will never be required, such as those used 
only in learned works : next, reject all those that hardly ever oc- 
cur even in books. Next let alone those that are chiefly in use 
only in certain particular lines of life, and are more or less techni- 
cal. Again, have nothing to do with any words that are not 
commonly used in the ordinary matters of life. What can be 
gained but clear loss by burthening the young beginner with a mul- 
titude of words, by far the greater part of those in the language^ 
that will be thus rejected, when they have nothing whatever to do 
with his acquiring a useful knowledge of the language, and when, 
if required, they can afterwards be added in a tenth part of the 
time that they would require at first. Probably out of twenty 
thousand words in a language, the knowledge of 5000 would set 
him so perfectly at liberty in all ordinary conversation that nei- 
ther he himself nor those he converses with would be reminded 
that he does not know all. And if occasionally a person used one 
of the remaining words, probably he could not mistake the mean- 
ing of it in the midst of so many known ones. And if he could 
not perceive what it must mean, he could have no difficulty in ask- 
ing the meaning or understanding the explanation. Having thus 
relieved our student from such a mass of useless labour, let us 
next divide these 5000 words, or whatever the number is, into se- 
veral portions, taking out first one thousand and then another of 
the least common and least immediately necessary words, till we 
have only a thousand left. Out of these we again take 250 three 
times, and then 150 in the same way, so that to begin we have only 
100 of the commonest words in the language, but consisting of 
all the different parts of speech so that little sentences may be 
formed out of them. The learner then deals with only one of 
these batches of words at a time, not troubling himself with the 
others till he knows the first batch as well as he does so many 
words of his own language. This is one of the great essentials of 
the system proposed. Words should never be partially learnt 
and forgotten again, nor imperfectly, that is, so that their true 



18 



THE STUDY OF 



value and use arc not thorouglily known. When once a word 
is taken up, it should of course be thoroughly secured both as 
respects the meaning of it and its use, and it must be parti- 
cularly observed that it is not the bare knowledge of a word tii:»t 
is wanted, so that a person by more or less thought can recall 
it to his mind, it must, to be of any use in conversation, be per- 
fectly familiar, and it must have been repeated aloud so many 
times that the orgaiis of speech have been tlioroughly exercised 
in it, and that it may be pronounced both correctly and with the 
utmost freedom. Nothing but wuUi plied repebUlons of it aloud 
with conlinued reference to a correct standard, and in coyineciion 
with various other words ca?i accomplish this. It must take some 
time thus to appropriate new words, and especially the first 100 
words of a language, but the process cannot possibly be hastened, 
but on the contrary indelinitely delayed, by attempting thousands 
of others before the first are secured. 

The number 100 is cliosen for the first batcli, as being about 
the smallest number tliat can enable one to make up some variety 
of short sentences, so that each word may be seen in a variety of 
situations and in its various inflections ; and they are sufficient to 
provide for exercising the student in the first rudiments of gram- 
mar. 

3rd. To each of these batches of words a set of sentences is to 
be added ; these are all to be the commonest colloquial expres- 
sions. They should consist of a certain number written on each 
word in the batch, and contain no words that are not in it. It is 
essential that they should be written by Natives, and those who 
cannot speak EngHsh would be preferable, in order that there 
may be a security for the sentences being true Native expressions. 
It is also essential that the writers should not be highly educated 
men, but ordinary intelligent men of the middle classes, otherwise 
the sentejices would be almost sure lo be full of fancifid things. 
The list of words should be given to several different persons in 
order to secure a good variety of expressions, and some selection 
should be made. The first set ought not to consist of less than 
1 000 sentences, that is 10 to each word, in order that by means of 
this batch of words the first rudiments of grammar may be quite 
familiar, and some considerable notion obtained of the general 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 19 

style of expression peculiar to the language, keeping throughout 
the grand object in view, which is to arrange that, so far as pos- 
sible, the attention may be concentrated on one thing at a time. 
When a hundred words have been acquired, all the use possible 
should be made of them as the vehicle for conveying instructions 
in other respects before tlie attention is encumbered by new words, 
in order that when new words are taken in hand the student may 
have his attention in a great measure released from the pressure of 
the elementary points of grammar, peculiar style of expression &c. 

It is also most essential that these sentences should consist of 
only two or three words, never more than the latter. It is astonish- 
ing how very little new matter overloads the attention of a be- 
ginner, and the utmost care is necessary that no more should ever 
be placed before him at a time than that he can receive a distinct 
impression of it. A sentence of four or five words is quite too 
much at first, and nothing is gained by attempting more than the 
student is equal to. Comparatively speaking, a very considerable 
time must be given to the first set of sentences, for there is a great 
deal to be learnt by them. 

It is evident that they involve almost all the pronunciation, 
the inflexions of the nouns and verbs, the mode of combining the 
different parts of speech, the exercise of the organs of speech and 
that of the ear on the sound of the language &c. 

The fii'st progress of a student in a new language, at least in 
one entirely dissimilar to his native tongue, is indeed astonishing- 
ly slow, and it is of no use attempting to push hiin on faster than 
he can go. We constantly meet with what are called, easy booTcs 
for beginners, but probably there is not one published in any 
language that is a hundredth part easy enough or that does not 
seem to suppose a progress at first a hundred times more rapid 
than any student makes. 

The sentences must of course be translated into English, but 
it is essential that they should not be written originally in 
English and then translated into the foreign language. 

We do not want to teach a man to speak English sentences in 
foreign words, but to use the foreign expressions. 

The second set of words consisting of 150 may perhaps con- 
tain ten sentences for each word, or 1,500 in all. 



20 THE STUDY OF 

These may be a little longer than the first, as the student will 
be able to obtain a clear impression of a greater number of words 
together, but probably they should not exceed five. After this, 
the sets of sentences may consist of fewer upon each word, and 
perhaps only one upon each of the hist two batches, and they 
may be lengthened gradually, the last being of any length. 

The essential points of these sentences are therefore, 

rirst, that they should be bona fide expressions commonly used 
in the language, and consequently that they should be originally 
written in the language by a native. 

2nd, That they should be simple, ordinary, colloquial expres- 
sions, and therefore that they should not be written by learned 
men who would probably spoil them. 3rd, That they should be 
extremely short, the first set not exceeding three words, and the 
others very gradually lengthened. 4th, That there should be a 
large number of them in the first set of words, so as to make as 
much use as possible of those words before proceeding to new 
ones. 5th, That there should be as great a variety of expressions 
in the sentences as possible. 

In printing the sentences there should be, first, the native 
words separately and in the proper character : 2nd, Under each 
of them the same word in the English charact-er : 3rd, The most 
exact English meaning of each indivi^hial word ; and 4th, The full 
power of the sentence freely given in English. 

The use of the Native character is, to enable a native to teach 
from the book, who does not know English. 

As one great point in preparing these materials is, to provide 
for a person having to learn the language, with the help 
of natives who do not understand English, or who are not 
thoroughly (qualified teachers, it is desirable if possible that these 
sentences should have numerous notes subjoined, giving all the 
information that can be suggested by each sentence and that can 
in any way hel]) to give the student an intelligent knowledge of 
the language. These notes should if possible be written by an 
intelligent Englishman, who will know from his o^ni experience 
what misapprehensions beginners are liable to form on account 
of their English ideas, and what points are likely to be difficul- 
ties to them. If the first two sets of words had ten sentences in 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 21 

each, and the last thousand words four on each, the whole of 
the sentences, on, suppose, 2,000 words would amount, to about 
10,000, which would be sufficient to make the student thorough- 
ly at home in expressing himself freely on all common subjects. 
Besides these general words and sentences, each student, accord- 
ing to his profession, ought to have a separate set of words and 
expressions belonging to his peculiar occupations, whether those 
of a Magistrate, a Merchant, a Missionary, an Engineer, &c. 

But it would be of no use his acquiring this information till he 
was in some good measure grounded in the more general use of 
the language, and therefore he should not perhaps take such a 
list of words in hand till he had gone through the first two thou- 
sand general words with their sentences. The professional sen- 
tences should contain, of course, only those words abeady learnt 
in addition to the technical words. With these sets of words 
and sentences there should be a short grammar, containing only 
the first rudiments, in the simplest possible form, so that it can be 
referred to without loss of time on any point. This however in 
fact should be made comparatively very little use of. Eules of 
grammar are not wanted, a man in conversation cannot possibly 
stop to form the participle of a verb from the root, by consider- 
ing the rules. If it does not come of itself into his mouth nothing 
can make amends for that defect. What is wanted is, such a know- 
ledge of grammar as a child of four years old possesses ; that is, a 
knowledge which enables him to speak correctly, intelligibly, and 
without hesitation, though, he does not know a single rule for 
anything he says. His speaking ?7tti,si be independent of any rules, 
whether he has learnt any or not. Yet a short grammar, to be 
looked into occasionally, at first may be of some little assistance 
in acquiring the inflexions of the nouns and verbs, &c. But the 
grand means of acquiring a grammatical use of the language must 
be simply the repetition multiplied, of a good variety of correct 
forms of expression. 

Nothing can be more absurd than insisting upon knowing the 
rules of grammar before a student can be allowed to know a lan- 
guage. 

If a man talks English grammatically, that is, correctly, he is 
never examined as to whether he knows any rules ; perhaps he 
never learnt a line of any English grammar, but it makes no dif- 



22 THE STUDY Oh 

ference. But it is always expected that a man studying a foreign 
lani'uaii'e should be able to stand an examination of a kind neither 
he nor his examiner could stand in his mother tongue. The 
same man who meets a stranger in the street and knows well by 
the first sentence that he utters whetlier he is perfectly acquaint- 
ed with English or not, is perhaps on his way to some place 
where lie will pass hours in ascertaining whether a student has a 
good knowledge of a language foreign to him. 

These are therefore the materials which I would put into any 
man's hands, who wants to study a foreign language for collo- 
quial purposes : viz., a vocabulary of perhaps 2,000 words, divided 
into sets of, from 100 to 250, with about ten thousand com- 
mon forms of expression, composed only of each set of words and 
those words previously learnt. These printed both in the Native 
and English character, with a verbal and a free translation, the 
sentences to be aided if possible by copious notes giving all the 
collateral information possible ; and to these to be added a very 
short rudimental grammar. 

It will not perhaps be necessary to give the verbal transla- 
tions of any but the fii'st 2 or 3000 sentences. 

As to the student's further study, he may of course now with 
perfect ease follow the ordinary plan ; that is, take up any book 
that contains the sort of words and matter most suited to liis line 
of life, with an ordinary dictionary and grammar to which 
however he will have very seldom to refer, lie will know so 
large a proportion of the words that the context will generally 
shew the meaning of any now word he meets with, and he will 
lose very little of his time in that which usually occupies about 
three fourths of all the time expended in such studies, viz. in 
turning over the leaves of a large dictionary and guessing which 
of the several meanings there found for a word is compatible 
with those of the other words of the sentence before him, many 
of which he has also yet to ascertain. But his great business 
should of course be to converse as constantly as possible in order 
further to exercise his tongue and his car, and to add to his stock 
of forms of expression. It is to be remembered that, in u^ing books, 
a principal exercise should be, reading aloud and having them 
read aloud to him by a native. 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 23 

If his occupation will require formal writing or translating, of 
com-se he must exercise himself a good deal with books. It is 
well known that the most easy and certain way of acquiring a 
correct and easy style in writing in any foreign language is to 
make or procure accurate translations of native books, and then 
retranslate them, comparing such re-translation with the original 
and thoroughly considering the difference between them. This 
can be done with the greatest ease and economy of time when 
such a good fundamental knowledge has been acquired as is 
supposed to be obtained through the system now proposed. 

The next point to be considered is the mode of using these 
materials. 

The student begins with the English letters representing the 
sounds. The teacher sounds each letter and the student repeats 
it immediately after. This is done many times with those letters 
which represent sounds entirely strange to the learner. The most 
essential thing is to learn where to place the tongue in these last 
sounds, without doing which it is impossible he should utter them 
correctly ; and this must be most patiently and diligently practis- 
ed, because this new motion of the tongue must be acquired to 
the same degree of facility as he has in pronouncing the sounds 
of his own language. This cannot possibly be effected except by 
long continued use of the organs of speech. At first, each of 
these letters should be pronounced perhaps ten times over by the 
teacher, and repeated by the student instantly, the latter always 
observing carefully the difference between his own pronunciation 
and that of the teacher's, which immediately follows. 

The grand means to attain to a correct pronunciation must 
always be thus for the learner to attempt it both immediately 
after, and immediately before, hearing it correctly pronounced by 
a native. Just as in learning to write it is not sufficient first to 
look at the original and then try to imitate it, but after writ- 
ing it to look again at the original to see in what respect the 
copy has failed. Of course it will only be necessary to do this 
with the new sounds, which will generally be only very few. 

The student next takes the first list of 100 words, which are all 
written in the shortest form, that is, the radical form of the verb 
&c., as we should write in English, good, go, little, come, &c. The 



24 THE STUDY 07 

teacher should thea pronounce the tlrst word deliberately and 
distinctly and the student should repeat it, followed by the 
English meaning of it, when it sliould again be repeated by the 
teacher, and this suppose five times at first. 

In this way the whole hundred words would be gone over 
many hundred times before the student ventures to attempt 
pronouncing them by himself. The teacher and student should 
sit at some distance apart, so that it may be necessary to 
speak pretty loud. In these first exercises the student should 
have the printed words before him, that he may have tlie assis- 
tance of sight in addition to that of hearing in impressing them 
on his memory. It will of course be at first tiresome to coutiuue 
this exercise long, nevertheless the longer the better, and if a per- 
son could arrange to do it for one or two hours, at three or four 
different times in the day it would probably be best — but he 
should not attempt to learn them by heart because his pronunci- 
ation will not be sufficiently confirmed. 

AVhen he has become tolerably familiar with the words of the 
first set of sentences, both as to pronunciation and meaning, by 
thus repeating them with his teacher several times and with his 
book before him, he should put down his book and go over them 
again in the same way several times, without seeing the words, so 
as to be wholly dependent upon the ear. Prom the first, the ear 
must be exercised as far as possible without any aid from the eye. 
It must be kept continually in mind that the sight is to be used 
as little as possible for the reasons before given. The sentence 
should not be read together the first time of going over because 
the student is not yet able to receive any distinct impression 
from more than one word at a time. The student should not yet 
trouble himself about the mode of framing the inflexions that he 
meets with, but be content to take the word with its exact Eng- 
lish meaning as he finds it. In this way he should go through 
the first 1,000 sentences with his teacher which will perhaps take 
him 15 hours, or suppose three days study, during which lime he 
would have repeated every one of the first hundred words on an 
average about a hundred and fifty times (including the separate 
readings of the list of words). 

Less than three times repetition of each word is not sufficient 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 25' 

to ensure tlie students correcting himseK when he pronounces it 
imperfectly the first time. 

After the first and second reading of the sentences, repe ating 
each word by word, the whole sentence should be repeated in the 
same way at least three times over, the student repeating the free 
English translation after the foreign sentence. 

The readings should be repeated till every word has been heard 
and uttered suppose GOO times. During these readings the grammar 
of the nouns and verbs may be looked into a little ; and, lastly, 
the sentence should be learnt by heart. And when the student is 
well exercised in the pronunciation by these means, so that he 
can trust himself to utter it without first hearing it spoken, the 
sentence should be again gone over in the same way, but the 
teacher beginning by repeating first the English word, when the 
student gives the foreign one, the teacher immediately repeating 
it again and so on. But if it is found that the student cannot 
yet remember the word and pronounce it with perfect ease, they 
should be read over again in the former way. When able to do 
it, the whole set of sentences should be again gone through without 
the words being repeated individually, the teacher the first time 
giving the foreign sentence, and the next time giving first the 
English sentence. 

It may be supposed that all this will not be necessary ; and it 
certainly is not, in order to obtain such a knowledge as is usually 
supposed to be sufiicient, that is, a knowledge which, when brought 
to the trial of conversation, is found to be of little or no use. 
But it will be found that, to obtain a really familiar acqu.aintance 
with this first set of words and their easy and correct pronuncia- 
tion and use, these multiplied repetitions are absolutely necessary. 

Nothing but a long continued exercise of the ear and the 
organs of speech upon a great variety of actual expressions can 
give either that quickness at hearing and pronouncing, or that 
facihty of correctly combining the words, which are essential to 
their effective, colloquial use. 

It must be particularly observed that this first set of sentences 
thus acquired implies much more than might appear from the 
first glance, namely, there is involved in it as it were the whole 
pronunciation of the language ; for a man who can pronounce 



26 THE 5:TLDY OF 

freely and correctly 100 words will liave little difilculty in pro- 
nouncing nil the rest : 2nd, a knowledge of all the inflexions 
of the nouns and verbs ; 3rd, the mode of combining and arrang- 
ing the different parts of speech. 

Thus, though only 1 00 words are used, some real and considerable 
progress has already been made in the knowledge of the language. 
This first set of sentences should not be laid aside till they 
are so perfectly familiar, that almost any one of them can be re- 
peated with the utmost readiness, on the English translation being 
uttered. Nothing whatever will be gained by meddling with 
new materials till these first are thoroughly wrought into the stu- 
dent, and made as much part of himself as the words and expres- 
sions of his own language. 

The second set of words and sentences must be read over and 
thoroughly appropriated in the same way as the first. 

Probably these first 250 w^ords with their sentences may I)e 
mastered in a month of steady study of 3 or 4 hours a day, 
and 750 additional words with about 3000 longer sentences in 
another month, completing the first 1 000 words in two months. 
After the thorough grounding w'hich this will give in every res- 
pect, in pronunciation, in expression, in hearing, in grammar &c. 
the additions will be made w'ith much greater rapidity. 

Every thing depends upon this first grounding being thorough 
and complete. Nothing but such repetitions will accomplish 
this object — there is no other way of doing it. 

A soldier may be shewn how- to march, and he may be made to 
move his legs in the manner shewn in a few steps, but nothing 
but long continued practise can possibly enable him to do it both 
correctly and Avith ease ; and it is the same with the muscles of 
the tongue, the ear, and the brain, as it is with the limbs. 

A girl may have the finest ear possible, but that will not enable 
her fingers to run over the notes of a piano or her throat to pro- 
duce the notes of a song freely and correctly, without long exer- 
cise of those organs. 

After the first month the teacher will bo required much less, 
because the student can be trusted to pronounce when he is 
alone, provided he exercises with the teacher for some time daily. 
He should always read aloud by himself just as when he reads 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 27 

with the teacher, both because, the great point is the exercise of 
the organs of speech, and hearing, and also because the pronoun- 
cing of the word is so great a lielp to remember the meaning. It 
must however be remembered that in this soHtary study as Kttle 
use as possible should still be made of the eye. The word or 
sentence should be merely glanced at when necessary and the re- 
petition should then be made without looking at the book. 

With respect to the time required, I cannot speak certainly, 
because I have never had an opportunity of seeing the stqdy com- 
menced with such materials properly prepared beforehand ; but 
so far as I have seen it tried with imperfect materials, the result 
was certainly excellent. 

In the only case where an approach was made to a fair trial, a 
gentleman studied irregularly, but equal to about two months 
continuous study of five hours a day, and from that time he went 
out and performed all his duties Mdthout an interpreter, having 
constantly to converse with the middling and lower classes, most 
of whom had never spoken to a European before. 

This was a real, practical and effective acquaintance with the 
language, though within small limits as to his number of words 
and expressions at first starting ; but then his ear and tongue 
having been well exercised, he could both make himself under- 
stood and he could recognize the words spoken to him, and con- 
sequently he was in a position to make steady progress in the 
correct use of the language from his intercourse with the people, 
and this he accordingly did. It would of course have been much 
better if he could have continued the same course of study, though 
it were only for an hour or two a day, by which he would have 
far more rapidly added to his stock of words and expressions."^ 

It is very probable that many persons would complete the ap- 
propriation of the first 1,000 words and their sentences in one 
month. 

I would now only ask which is preferable as a foundation, such 
a really effective use of a language, though within small limits • 
or such a loose, vague, and useless knowledge of a vast number of 



* An educated Native, who bad, I believe, helped to teach this gentleman latelv 
told me that he had overheard Natives speaking of him, who said that if thev had 
not seen hira, they should not have known thai it was nol a Native who was a'peak- 
injr Teloo";oo. 



28 



THE STUDY OF 



words, with tlic rules of grammar, as is usually acquired after at 
least many mouths of hard study, during the whole of which 
time too, the attention has been kept in a very injurious state of 
tension by the overwhebning load of new things that has continu- 
ally been laid upon it at one and the same time. I believe that in 
general little eiiectivc colloquial use of such a language is acquir- 
ed within a year of hard study, and that often two or tliree years 
or more pass before the student can talk it tolerably, though oidy 
a portion of that time of course is actually employed in study. 
On one occasion, I was acquainted with two men who studied in- 
tensely (about ten hours a day) for nine months, after which up- 
on trial they found that they could scarcely hold the sbghtest 
communication with natives. 

A remarkably apposite passage from the life of Dr. Hope may 
here be quoted which I have just met with, and in which 
a part of the ver}/ means here proposed is stated to have 
been used by him Mith the most remarkable success, though he 
did not begin upon this plan, but merely learnt the colloquial use 
of a language after he had acquired a considerable stock of words. 
" He had already picked up a good knowledge of French and 
Italian, so far as mere reading went, and he imagined like many 
others that a little practice on the road Avould enable him to 
speak the language sufficiently to carry him through his tour ; 
but it was a very different thing to hear the lessons of professors 
and to converse with the natives of the country. Of this he 
found a very humiliating proof. He went to engage apartments 
at a private Hotel, but after a ])antomimic performance of twenty 
minutes between himself and the landlady, it was found that nei- 
ther could in the slightest degree understand the other, and after 
laughter and reciprocal bows he returned in despair. Having 
settled at another hotel, he now determined to devote twelve 
hours a day to the mere practice of speaking French. His first 
step was to engage a French Master for twelve lessons and to 
make him go through the drudgery of reading three words at a 
time, while Ik; mimicked tluun as closely as he could. This was 
singularly disagreeable to the master, but it was all that Dr. 
Hope wanted and he was inflexible. He thus secured himself 
against any gross error in pronunciation. He hai)pened to pos- 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 2d 

sess a Wanostroclit's grammar with a key to it, a grammar which 
is remarkable for the p^eai numher of simple exercises which il- 
lustrate each rule. 

He now translated these exercises from English to Trench, cor- 
recting himself by constant reference to the Key. In this way 
he went two or three times through the grammar in the course 
of a mon\h, gaining flecoibilit'i/ of tongiie and losing the fear of 
hearing his own voice. He at the same time adopted another 
device ; he w^ent to dine daily at a small and crowded restaur- 
ant frequented by the Garde du corps, where the company was so 
closely packed that he could not help hearing the conversation of 
two or three contiguous talkers. In this way his ear got familiariz- 
ed %vitli all the sounds of the French language, wXiqUiqi quick or slow, 
correct or provincial. At the end of a month he ventured to sally 
forth, and, having a fancy for the rooms of the private hotel to 
which he had originally gone, he waited on the landlady. On en- 
tering he addressed her in fluent French, explained his wishes 
&c., the landlady the meanwhile, with up-raised hands and a look 
of utter amazement, exclaiming, " Yoila un miracle ! you cannot 
be the same gentleman that called here a month ago and could 
not speak a word of Prencli/^ 

This case has no reference to the principles here proposed, so 
far as the use of a restricted vocabulary is concerned, but it shews 
how perfectly ineffectual the knowledge of book language and the 
exercise of the eye was, for colloquial purposes, and how com- 
plete the success was both in respect of time and effect, when 
the means here proposed were used, viz., the thoroagli appropria- 
tion of a good stock of simple familiar sentences, and the diligent 
exercise of the ear and tongue. 

He was totally wdthout the colloquial use of the language-, 
so that he coald neither understand a word spoken nor 
speak one intelligibly when he began to adopt the means he did, 
and in one month he found himself perfectly at liberty in con- 
versation. 

In the same memoir it is afterwards related ; — " Having had a 
lesson in Trance on the inconvenience of not being able to speak 
the language of a country in which one is travelling and study- 
ing, Dr. Hope guarded against a similar inconvenience in Italy, 



80 THK STUDY OF 

Before leaving Paris he improved his pronunciation of Italian by 
taking twelve lessons, as he had formerly done in French, and he 
provided himself with a brief practical Italian Grammar, with 
Exercises referring to the rules, and a key to them. 

During a tour in Switzerland it was agreed that he should walk 
in advance of his friend for an hour daily, to give him an oppor- 
tunity oi practising these exercises viva voce. 

This plan answered perfectly ; at the end of tlie time he spoke 
Italian fluently." 

It may perhaps help to show yet more distinctly how far the 
principles here advocated differ from or agree Mith some of the 
commonly received notions on the subject, if I place my views 
side by sid6 with those lately advanced in an elementary book for 
helping the student of an Indian language. 

The 1st principle laid down is, " Don't proceed too quickly. 
An entirely new language requires great accuracy in the master- 
ing of its elements." In this I agree, but I consider the book it- 
self implies a progress in the learner immeasureably beyond the 
reality. 

2nd, " Write down every thing from the beginning. Read al- 
ways with pen or pencil in hand." This is directly opposed to 
two of my principles, one an essential one, the other, one of great 
importance. The first, that every thing is to be learnt through 
the ear, and not through tlie eye, because it is the ear that is to be 
employed in using the language and not the eye. The other, that 
the foreign character should Jiot be used by the beginner, because 
time must be saved in learning one thing at a time, and the char- 
acter is not necessary to enable one to learn the language itself. 

3rd, " Head aloud all tlie exercises with a Tamil teacher, and 
be very careful in ascertaining tlie correctness of what you have 
written." Here it is evident that there was some sort of loose no- 
tion about the exercise of the tongue, but it also shows that there 
was nothing like a real apprehension of the essential importance 
of this, nor of tlie CKtent to wliich that exercise should be carried. 
Nor is any thing at all said about that which I insist upon, as the 
main point, viz., the impossibility of learning to pronounce cor- 
rectly, and the certainty of being established in a false pronunci- 
ation, unless for some considerable time, no word is pronounced 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 31 

without referring at the time to a correct standard, without the 
student hearing one word at a time pronounced both immediately 
before and immediately after himself by a native. As to the latter 
clause of this hint I urge that the only possible way to secure the 
correctness of what one learns is not to attempt to invent any- 
thing, but to be content to learn every thing, every sound, every 
word, every expression from a native. 

4th, " At first, whenever you meet with a new word, look for it 
in the vocabulary, and decline and conjugate it in full-''^ My rule 
is, never meet with a new word, and never lose a minute in look- 
ing for a word in a vocabulary, or in guessing which of the 
different meanings that may be there given is the right one; and 
never lose time in declining and conjugating a word in full. 
Use only limited lists of words, and thorouglily appropriate every 
one by hearing it applied in a great variety of short sentences, in 
the course of which exercises, the grammar will necessarily be 
picked up long before the pronunciation and value and use of the 
word are fully acquired. Yet it will be of some use to look occa- 
sionally into a short grammar containing the inflexions of words. 

5th, " Begin to talk, though with stammering lips, as soon as 
possible, the very first day. Never speak English to a native if you 
can help it. Why say salt, when you know the word, Uppu ? 
Do not be afraid of making mistakes.^' 

This rule contains the very essence of the ordinary system, or 
rather of the old notions. It is diametrically opposed to the 
universally acknowledged and universally applicable principle. 
" Whatever is habitual is easy.^^ It is always easier to do a thing 
the second time than the first. My principle is. Be afraid of one 
thing, making mistakes. Every time that a mistake is made, 
one step more is taken towards a confirmed habit of making that 
mistake. Why do men in talking English as their own language 
go on putting h's in the wrong places and leaving them out 
all their lives, in spite of their getting into a different class of 
society, where they continually hear the coiTect pronunciation in 
this respect, without ever being corrected ? Because by habit 
their perceptions have been so blunted that they never per- 
ceive that they make a mistake. Do we not keep this prin- 
ciple of avoiding mistakes in view in ahnost aU other cases 



32 TIIK STUDY OF 

excepting this ? Do we set a eliild to make a rude iuiitatioii of 
some letter and then leave him to rei)eat it without a standard ? 
or, do we insist upon his incessantly looking at a standard, and 
never making one written letter without trying to imitate that 
standard which is placed before his eyes ? 

My principle therefore is, never attempt to guess at anv ihinir, 
whether it is a sound, or word, or an expression. Take the most 
effective steps you can to prevent your ever "making a mistake." 
Is there not enough work to do to learn the real languaire, that 
you must take measures to oblige yourself to add to it the un- 
learning of your oAvn mistakes ? Every time you pronounce a 
word wrong you have that to unlearn. On no account therefore 
attempt to speak in the proper sense of that w ord till vou are 
established in 

1st. A sound pronunciation. 

^nd. In the knowledge of the true value of a stock of \\ ords. 
3rd. In that of a good amount of Grammar. 
4th. In that of a large stock of bona llde native expres- 
sions. 
Is not tliis principle undeniable ? Does a drawing master tell 
his pupil, Go and make rude and absurd drawings of a hand or 
afoot, and then occupy yourself in unlearning t1ie habit you have 
been acquiring, or does he set before his pupil a true represen- 
tative of a thing, and say, Imitate this, with tlie most earnest and 
close attention and never make a line without referring to the 
standard ? Which pupil would make the greatest progress and 
which would be most likely to attain to perfection in his study, — 
one who was always trying to make rude drawings of a foot out 
of his own imagination and then labouring to correct them, or 
one who did not attempt to invent at all, but kept exercising 
himself in imitating a correct representation of a foot. 

6th, " Be very careful in noting down diil'erences in idiom 
between your own language and Tamil. If you hear much Chris- 
tian or Cutcherry Tamil, beware of thinking all you hear to be 
really Tamil. Try to cultivale a Tamil ear, so as to detect an 
unidiomatic expression as you would a false note in music. You 
should underdand all you hear ; you need not use any expression 
that is not i?ood Tamil.'-' 



LIVING LANGUAGES. 33 

I would only ask how a student can possibly learn to distin- 
guish between true language and false, except by learning the 
true, and taking care as far as possible not to come in contact 
■with false language, whether coming from himself or any body 
else, till he has accjuired a sound taste and judgment, by a con- 
Jirmed knowledge of the true language. 

The simple rule is, Learn the true language, and then you will 
not waste your time in acquiring and tryiug to unlearn a false 
one. Sow clean wheat in your ground, and not wheat and weeds 
mixed together, and then you will not require to employ all the 
season in trying in vain to root out the weeds which you have 
yourself sown. 

It is this sort of instructions, continually inserted in books of 
instruction in languages, and which are directly opposed to well 
known general principles, which shew so plainly how entirely un- 
digested the subject still is, and how people in general are still 
acting upon notions that they have never examined, and which 
w^ill not bear the least examination. 

In the book which is prefaced by these rules, the materials 
provided to assist the learner of Tamil are all prepared upon the 
usual false principles : — 

1st. An unlimited vocabulary is used, so that every word must 
be learnt and forgotten a hundred times over. 

2nd. All sorts of words are introduced, words perfectly useless 
to a beginner, words derived from Sanscrit and scarcely ever 
used in conversation, words used only in books translated from 
English by Englishmen &c. 

3rd. The sentences are certainly not all written by a native, so 
that the learner takes up the book with the encouraging feeling 
that he does not know which are true Tamil sentences and which 
are not. 

4th. Almost aU the sentences are much too long for a beginner. 

5th. Many of the sentences are such as it is quite useless for a 
beginner to learn. 

6th. English sentences are given without the corresponding 
Tamil. How is the learner to discover what the proper Tamil 
would be unless he is told ? 

7th. The same with the Tamil sentences. What can be the 



34 THE STUDY OF LIVING LANGUAGES. 

use of leaving tlie learner to guess \vliat tlie English meaning is, 
knowing that when he has guessed it, it may be either right or 
wrong. Suppose a Tamil man were learning English, how 
could he find out the expression we use when we ask who a 
certain person is ? How could he ever guess the expression, Who's 
that ? Or could he find out of himself these expressions, What's 
the matter ? Where has he been ? Come away. Td rather not. 
Never mind. Whether or no. I can't help it. You might as well 
set a man to guess, at the words of a language as at its common 
expressions. 

When I put this book into a Moonshee's hand, the first tiling 
he said, w^as, Many of these sentences are not common Tamil 
expressions, and many of the words are not commonly used in 
conversation. 

This might be said of almost any book, I suppose every book, 
of the kind. What is a learner to do who has no better ma- 
terials ? It is destructive for a learner to use a book, when he is 
not sure whether the sentences are Tamil or not. 

I mention these particulars of this book, as illustrative of the 
mistakes, and undigested ideas that are current on the subject. 



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